LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has granted post-arrest bail to Ichhra jeweller Sheikh Wasim Akhtar in two cases related to an alleged fraud of 20kg gold.
Earlier, a counsel for the accused argued that his client had been behind bars since February 2026, as 21 FIRs had been registered against him. He said the petitioner had already been granted bail by the trial courts in 15 cases. The counsel argued that offence of dishonesty had been unnecessarily added to the FIRs. He said no receipt had been produced to establish that jewellery had been handed over to the suspect.
He asked the court to grant post-arrest bail to his client.
Opposing the petitions, a prosecutor said the accused had been engaged in the gold business in Ichhra and had been found guilty during the police investigation. He said the challan had already been submitted and statements of witnesses were being recorded by the trial court.
Justice Khalid Ibn-i-Aziz allowed the petitions and granted bail to Akhtar in two cases against surety bonds of Rs10 million each. The fraud had surfaced in December 2025 when several jewellers of Latif Centre, Ichhra, came to know that Wasim had disappeared suddenly with 20kg of gold worth Rs1 billion they had “invested” with him for decades. — Staff Reporter